diff --git a/lib/linux_compat.c b/lib/linux_compat.c
index 985e88eb397..e4a3293e3af 100644
--- a/lib/linux_compat.c
+++ b/lib/linux_compat.c
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ struct kmem_cache *get_mem(int element_sz)
 	struct kmem_cache *ret;
 
 	ret = memalign(ARCH_DMA_MINALIGN, sizeof(struct kmem_cache));
+	if (!ret)
+		return NULL;
+
 	ret->sz = element_sz;
 
 	return ret;